Genus and species of plant claimed: Actinidia arguta. 
Kiwi plants in cultivation are mainly varieties of A. deliciosa, particularly xe2x80x98Haywardxe2x80x99 although some A. chinensis and A. arguta varieties are grown. A. deliciosa and A. chinensis are closely related, whereas A. arguta is classified in a separate section of the genus. A. deliciosa and A. chinensis varieties have large fruit (xcx9c100 g) with hair on the skin. The main varieties in New Zealand are xe2x80x98Haywardxe2x80x99 (A. deliciosa) and xe2x80x98Hort16Axe2x80x99 (A. chinensis). Fruit are usually cut and eaten with a spoon. A. arguta has small fruit (xcx9c10 g) with no hair on the skin. The skin is edible so these fruit can be eaten whole, like a grape.
All Actinidia species are dioecious, so female varieties have to be interplanted with male pollinizers to ensure fruit production.
A. arguta vines are deciduous and tend to grow vigorously in spring and summer when rapidly-growing shoots can intertwine and tangle if not managed. Vines do best in a mild temperate climate without late spring or early autumn frosts. They produce consistent heavy crops when grown in well-drained fertile soils and given regular irrigation in dry spells.
A. arguta flowers in spring (late October-early December) in New Zealand. Harvest of A. arguta fruit may occur between early February and late March in New Zealand depending on the selection and location of plantings. Compared to A. deliciosa and A. chinensis, A. arguta fruit require more careful handling during harvest and post-harvest procedures.
The new variety was selected from a population of seedlings derived from crossing the A. arguta selection AAME01xe2x80x9401 (unpatented) and a male A. arguta selection AAME01xe2x80x9405 (unpatented). This new variety was created during the course of a planned plant-breeding program, which was initiated during 1987 at HortResearch in Auckland, New Zealand. The controlled cross was made in November 1987. Seeds were sown in autumn (March) 1988 and seedlings were selected from this cross and were planted out in the field at HortResearch Kumeu Research Orchard in spring (October) 1988. The seedlings first fruited in February-March 1991. Promising female seedlings were clonally propagated into a two-site replicated trial in 1995 and xe2x80x98Hortgem Ruaxe2x80x99 (breeding code E4I6) was selected after storage and sensory evaluation in 1998.
The new variety can be asexually reproduced as cuttings or by grafting or budding on to seedling or cutting-grown rootstocks of A. arguta. Trial plantings as cuttings established in 1995 at the HortResearch Te Puke and Nelson Research Centres and on seedling rootstocks established in 1998 at these sites have shown that the unique combination of characters come true to form and are established and transmitted through succeeding asexual propagations.